Greengrocers becomes Hairdresser – by LGT

When I came here… two houses along, there’s a little bit that comes down onto the road and that was a shop. It was a greengrocer, but it very quickly stopped being a greengrocer and became a hairdresser and that was lovely. We had our local hairdresser over there and we all used it.

Oakfield School memories – by KM

I started going to the local school. I went to one called Oakfield. That was my first memory of school here. It was a nursery school called Oakfield and that was opposite what is now an annexe of Grey Court School. It was at the time a little separate, 2-classroom building and that was a small little infants school. I was there before moving on to Meadlands Junior School and […]

Service in the RAF – by HS

Then I went to Richmond Rd School after that.  That was good, much more, many more subjects there than we had at Ham, of course, and from there I got a scholarship to what was then called Kingston Day Commercial School which I don’t think exists now, never seem to hear anything about it and by then it was sort of the beginning of the war and a new school […]

Early memories of Ham by DM

Having been born in Lock Road, apparently as a child, as a baby, I spent some nights and days in the air raid shelter in the garden in Lock Road. I don’t remember being in the air raid shelter but apparently I was.  I do remember vaguely I don’t know whether it’s correct or not being out on a small tricycle or something on Ham Common and seeing the tanks […]

Ham Lands, fishing, accidents and the smells – by GS

I used to fish in those pits quite a lot and I think most of us did because there was some lovely fish in there, perch, bream and carp and you used to go “leisuring”?? for eels and there was even pike in there, and rudd and roach but I don’t remember ever drinking out of there because it was very deep water, I remember that.  You used to go […]